On to Arizona!

We met a great group of pilots last night at Apple Valley's Midfield Aviation. The FBO/Flight School there held a barbecue for the night flying gathering. We booked a hotel in town, and were offered a ride to it by one of the pilots there. We ended up staying at the Econolodge in Hesperia. It was nothing fancy, but it was a place to stay for the night. In the morning we took a cab back to the airport. An RV-8 was stuck in the ditch at the airport. Apparently he had a break lock up upon landing after 4 hours of it being flown since completed! After chatting with the people at the FBO and filling up on fuel we were on our way. We got a fairly late start. We turned and headed east over the mountains direct to Laughlin/Bullhead airport (IFP) on the recommendation of a man at the FBO. The flight was beautiful over some very desolate stretches of desert with no people in sight. After about two hours, we crossed over a final ridge and descended into the Colorado River valley where Laughlin/Bullhead is located. The valley is right at the southern point of Nevada, where it meets Arizona and Colorado. We landed at the airport (in Arizona) and the woman at Landmark Aviation called Riverside Casino and they sent us a shuttle to take us to the casino for lunch.

Laughlin seems to be a strip of Casinos along the river (on the Nevada side). The river there is beautiful, clear and lined with trees. Riverside was the closest casino to the bridge over the river. We ate at a restaurant with a great view of the river. The food was...edible. We caught a shuttle back, fueled up and took off into a strong headwind, climbing like we were in an elevator. We easily made it over the ~4500 foot mountain pass on the east side of the valley and were on our way towards Grand Canyon Caverns. Once there, we found ourselves at a gravel strip a little over one mile above sea level. The strip itself is in relatively good condition, but the tiedown area is rather sparse and the brush on the sides of the taxiway would hit the wings of a low wing plane. We were the only airplane there, although a man at the motel said there were two on friday. The staff is very friendly and willing to help. We walked out to the back of the motel at night, and since the motel really is out in the middle of nowhere, on the longest remaining stretch of historic Route 66, the stars were absolutely stunning. The milky way was bright and there were a few shooting stars. Tomorrow, we'll tour the Grand Canyon!

On the way to Laughlin/Bullhead:

Laughlin/Bullhead along the Colorado River:

The Grand Canyon off in the distance on the way to Grand Canyon Caverns:

At Grand Canyon Caverns: